We made it through Wild Card Weekend, and there were surprises in all four matchups. The Houston Texans overcame a 16-0 deficit to beat the Buffalo Bills, the Tennessee Titans upset the New England Patriots, the Minnesota Vikings somehow took down the Saints in New Orleans and the Philadelphia Eagles gave the Seattle Seahawks a game with Josh McCown under center.
Now that the winners have their feet wet, they will get to take on the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds -- and have their sights set on an upset win which would land them in the conference championship game.
Below, we will break down each playoff team, and attempt to rank them from No. 8 to No. 1.
No. 8 Seattle Seahawks
Let's be honest for a second -- the Seahawks were given a major gift when Carson Wentz went down with an injury early in the first quarter. In stepped a 40-year-old high school football coach, and he was able to keep the Eagles in contention for the entire game. The Seahawks won 17-9, but should have won by three touchdowns. Russell Wilson completed 18 of 30 passes for 325 yards and a touchdown, but the story of the game was the emergence of rookie wide receiver D.K. Metcalf. He caught seven passes for 160 yards and a touchdown, and also helped to seal the game late with a big first-down catch. The Seahawks now have two legitimate weapons out wide with Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, but the running game is still a big question mark. Seattle rushed for just 64 yards against the Eagles, and Wilson was actually the leading rusher with 45 yards. Head coach Pete Carroll said this week, however, that Marshawn Lynch will continue to see an uptick in touches moving forward. The Seahawks would be higher on this list if they weren't dealing with several injuries on the offensive line and at running back.
No. 7 Houston Texans
We are 18 weeks into the season and I'm still trying to figure out this Texans team. I ranked them as the second-worst team in the playoffs in my first postseason rankings piece, and was feeling pretty good about it up until the third quarter of their wild-card matchup with the Bills. That game was a microcosm of their season as a whole. Absolutely horrible play in the first half and then incredible play in the second. Basically what we learned is that you cannot count the Texans out as long as they have Deshaun Watson under center. He completed 20 of 25 passes for 247 yards and a touchdown, and also rushed 14 times for 55 yards and a touchdown. He's the X-factor for this team, and he knows how to lead comebacks in big games. Getting wide receiver Will Fuller back this week should help immensely as well, and the Texans will be able to take more shots downfield. Houston clearly should have lost against Buffalo, but they lived to fight another day. They could do the same in the divisional round.
No. 6 Tennessee Titans
The mighty, mighty Titans went up to New England and supposedly ended the Patriots' dynasty last week. Derrick Henry rushed for 182 yards and a touchdown in the 20-13 win -- the most rushing yards in a postseason game since 2007. Henry and the defense powered the Titans to a win, which is impressive considering the Titans didn't get anything out of the passing game. Tannehill passed for just 72 yards, one touchdown and one interception in his first postseason game, and rookie phenom A.J. Brown caught just one pass for four yards. We know this Titans team is one of the best in the league when they are playing well, and they will need to do so if they want a chance against the Baltimore Ravens this week.
No. 5 Minnesota Vikings
Wow. How about the Vikings? The Saints were a Super Bowl favorite this season, and Kirk Cousins and Co. marched down to New Orleans and took Drew Brees down in overtime! Cousins passed for 242 yards and a touchdown and Dalvin Cook recorded 130 yards from scrimmage and two rushing touchdowns, but the MVP award goes to Minnesota's defense as a whole. Defensive linemen Danielle Hunter and Everson Griffen combined for eight tackles, three sacks and a forced fumble and safety Harrison Smith led the team in tackles while his running mate, Anthony Harris, picked off Brees once. Now that Cousins finally has that big win and a strong defense to go along with it -- who knows how far the Vikings can go?
No. 4 Green Bay Packers
If you ask me, the Packers haven't played up to their potential this season and they might be a year away from being a serious contender. They didn't have any noteworthy wins and the offense was inconsistent during Matt LaFleur's first season with Aaron Rodgers. Still, this team went 13-3 and earned a first-round bye. Aaron Jones emerged as one of the best running backs in the league, Jamaal Williams wasn't a bad running mate either and Davante Adams led the team in receiving yards even after missing four games due to injury. The Packers could rally to play their best football here in the playoffs.
No. 3 San Francisco 49ers
We have poked and prodded the 49ers for their faults all year, but they gutted out a 26-21 win over the Seahawks in Week 17 to acquire a first-round bye and finished with a 13-3 record. They have great running backs, great wide receivers, and a great defense -- it seems like it's all going to come down to if Jimmy Garoppolo can get the job done with the stakes higher than ever. He got better as the season progressed, and he completed 74.3 percent of his passes for 349 yards, four touchdowns and one interception in the statement win over the Saints in Week 14. He also played well during the win in Seattle last week, and he completed a season-high 81.8 percent of his passes for 285 yards. It seems like he understands when to rely on his play-makers and when he needs to shoulder the load, which is important for this team if they want to make the Super Bowl. Additionally, defenses still win championships, and the 49ers allowed just 281.8 yards per game in the regular season. That's second in the league behind the Patriots.
No. 2 Kansas City Chiefs
A fire was clearly lit under the Chiefs following their Week 10, 35-32 loss to the Titans in Tennessee, as Patrick Mahomes and Co. went on to win their last six games. This group would have likely gone to the Super Bowl last season if the overtime coin flip went their way, or if Dee Ford didn't line up offsides, and they are ready to rewrite what happened last year. We all know Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce are great weapons, but keep an eye on running back Damien Williams. He's played well over the last two games since returning from injury, and he rushed for 124 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries against the Los Angeles Chargers in the regular-season finale.
No. 1 Baltimore Ravens
No matter if you think the Ravens will make it to the Super Bowl or not, you can't argue that they are the best team leaving the regular season. Jackson threw for 3,127 yards, rushed for 1,206 more and accounted for 43 total touchdowns and just eight turnovers. He's the favorite to win the MVP award for a reason and is also why the Ravens are currently the Super Bowl favorite. It's not all about him, however. Mark Ingram, Mark Andrews, and Marquise Brown had big seasons and this defense is stacked as well. For crying out loud, their backups beat the Pittsburgh Steelers by double digits in the regular-season finale -- a team that needed to win to remain the postseason race. The Ravens are the best team in the NFL at this point, and it will be interesting to see if they can keep it that way through the postseason.
